What do you get when social networking meets the U.S. Congress? This: www.opencongress.org.
The web site, a project by The Sunlight Foundation and the Participatory Politics Foundation, gives you information on bills before Congress, including its status, who supports/opposes it and where their money is going, news and blog reports about the bill, and more.
But the site also puts you in the middle of the debate. You can share the bill on social networks; click on a button to support or oppose it (and the site keeps track of everyone who does so, giving you an at-a-glance rating); subscribe to get alerts about the bill; and comment in discussion forums.
The site has pages for individual legislators, where you can see his or her bills, rate him or her, and more. So, since you asked, I'll tell you that opencongress.org told me that York County's Todd Platts votes with the Republican party 84 percent of the time, has a 57.7 percent approval rating, and has co-sponsored 318 bills, six of which have been made into law.
It's cool stuff, especially if you're a political junkie, policy wonk or like new ways to keep an eye on government.
The web site, a project by The Sunlight Foundation and the Participatory Politics Foundation, gives you information on bills before Congress, including its status, who supports/opposes it and where their money is going, news and blog reports about the bill, and more.
But the site also puts you in the middle of the debate. You can share the bill on social networks; click on a button to support or oppose it (and the site keeps track of everyone who does so, giving you an at-a-glance rating); subscribe to get alerts about the bill; and comment in discussion forums.
The site has pages for individual legislators, where you can see his or her bills, rate him or her, and more. So, since you asked, I'll tell you that opencongress.org told me that York County's Todd Platts votes with the Republican party 84 percent of the time, has a 57.7 percent approval rating, and has co-sponsored 318 bills, six of which have been made into law.
It's cool stuff, especially if you're a political junkie, policy wonk or like new ways to keep an eye on government.
Hi, Scott. Glad you like the site and thanks for sharing it with your readers. Please get in touch if you ever need help digging up some info on Congress.